“WHAT’S MORE IMPORTANT: KNOWING THE SOURCE OR UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT?” THIRTY YEARS AGO…

“Rather than dictating information as absolutes, teachers should try to inspire their students to think for themselves. We cannot focus on the teaching of facts alone, but rather, on the teaching of content as a means to the process of critical thought.” –Joan F. Kaywell, U of South Florida, 1987.

“All students have the right to be happy and productive citizens.

“The primary purpose of English is to provide each student with the reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing skills necessary for effective communication.

“Learning experiences must deal with current concerns of the students, bear some relationship to life outside the school…

“The study of literature provides vicarious experiences where direct experiences are impossible or undesirable. Students may be prepared for various experiences through their reading…: teen relationships, death, injustice, prejudice, war, drugs and alcohol, crime, suicide. It doesn’t matter how many facts our students know if the final choice is drug addiction, imprisonment, or the taking of their own lives.

“…it is far more important that students know HOW to find, use, and apply content to their lives rather than be able to ‘bubble-in’ WHAT they learn on any given day.

“An English teacher has the capability of offering students the skills necessary to learn anything (assuming there is motivation and confidence).

“No other subject can compete with English in the integration of school with everyday life.

“If a person cannot read, write, and communicate effectively, many doors to a successful future are closed for that person.

“There is no way we can teach all the facts in 17 years; there is no way we will ever agree on what facts must be learned…. But there are ways to teach students to think critically and creatively about the world in which they live.”

“The teacher’s task is not simply to implant facts but to place the material to be learned in front of the learner and through sympathy, emotion, imagination, and patience to awaken in the learner the restless drive for answers and insights which enlarges the individual’s life and gives it meaning.”

I agree wholeheartedly James. Critical thinking and active learning skills (not just memorizing by rote) are essential in order to bring learning and independent thought outside of the classroom and into real life. Many will learn what the correct answer is according to some book but will be clueless as to how to apply that to a question life has required them to answer for themselves. Great article! =)